The brother of the late colonel Otobrise Umusu who was killed by Boko Haram in Borno State on 12th December 2016 has written an open letter to
President Buhari
Your Excellency,
My name is Odiriviroro Umusu I am the immediate junior brother of one
of your officers Lieutenant Colonel Otobrise Umusu the Commanding Officer,
118 Task Force Battalion in Borno State, who was killed by an Improvised
Explosive Device, IED, in an ambush on Monday 12th December 2016 on
his way to Baga.
Lieutenant Colonel Otobrise Umusu dedicated his life to serving Nigeria
from an early age:
1991 – 1996 – Nigeria Military School - Zaria
1996 – 1997 – Soldier serving with the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps
1997 – 2002 – Nigerian Defence Academy - Kaduna
Commissioned an officer in Infantry Corps 2002
Served as an officer from
2002 – 2016 in:
o Takum in the North East of Nigeria
o Republic of Sierra Leone
o Ibadan
o The Niger Delta
o Army Head Quarters – Abuja
o Maiduguri – where he died in service to Nigeria, his
country
Your Excellency; if you are reading this, the name UMUSU will ring a bell
as my father Brigadier General Sylvester Ugege Umusu served under you
and also worked with you when you headed PTF.
It is now Wednesday
14 th December 2016 and as I write this letter with tears in my eyes, my
father, my brother’s wife Ufuoma Umusu and his siblings have not been
contacted by you, your office, the Chief of Defence Staff or the Chief of
Army Staff to offer your condolences for our loss.
My brave brother
sacrificed his life and future with his family to make yours and every
Nigerian’s today safe. In my humble opinion we deserve your
acknowledgement and appreciation and as a former army officer I know you
appreciate the sacrifice involved in serving your country and it saddens me
that in over 24 hours after the passing of my brother a call has not been
made to my family.
I do not under any circumstances believe this is too
much to ask; for the falling heroes of our beloved country Nigeria.
My family has served Nigeria in her armed forces and continues to do so,
we have paid the greatest price for that service; the very young life of my
beloved brother Lieutenant Colonel Otobrise Umusu who was killed in
action.
. As his family we have lots of questions to ask surrounding his
death:
When will an investigation be carried out?
Will there be an investigation?
My brother bled out, why did his team not have the right equipment
for such eventuality
What lessons can be learnt from this?
What is being done to stop funding to Boko Haram?
o Every weapon, vehicle purchase or general equipment
purchase by Boko Haram must leave a paper trail
o Can the expert forensic accounting skills used by the
EFCC not be employed to disrupt their operations?
Your Excellency, you may deem this letter as disrespectful and not the
right procedure in dealing with this matter but am all but a Nigerian
citizen that is grieving the loss of his beloved brother and in my humble
opinion we deserve to know the who, what and why that happened to our
brother on that terrible day and as his Command in Chief you are
ultimately responsible for reaching out to all the families of our fallen
heroes to assure them their loved ones did not die in vain.
Thank you for your anticipated attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Odiriviroro Umusu

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